Buzzing The Net

Notre Dame forward Carson McManaman, far right, has become a mental health advocate after losing his father to suicide.

Carson McManaman wants to make a difference. It’s important, not only for him, but for his father as well.

It’s important because he lost his dad, Jamie McManaman, to suicide on June 23, 2016.

“It hasn’t been an easy ride, but my motivation comes from my father,” said McManaman, a senior at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox, Sask . “I try to make him proud every day, in some way. I have to keep going for my family too, having them see me thrive despite the circumstances pushes them as well.”

The 17-year-old is using his very personal tragedy to help others by becoming a mental health advocate in his community. He wants to send a message of hope to people suffering with depression. He especially wants them to know they’re not alone in their battle against mental illness.

“You can get through it, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel,” said

Team Canada announced its list of 32 players to bring to camp for the 2017 World Junior Hockey Championship next month in Toronto and Montreal. Here are the five things you need to know about the selection camp that will take place Dec. 11-14 in Blainville, Que.

FIVE RETURNING PLAYERS

There are five players back from Team Canada’s dismal sixth-place finish in Finland last year. The returnees include forwards Julien Gauthier (Carolina Hurricanes) and Mitchell Stephens (Tampa Bay Lightning) along with Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders) and Dylan Strome (Arizona Coyotes), who were both recently sent back to junior from the NHL. Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators) of the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs is the lone defenceman returning.

2.INJURY UPDATES

Despite their invites to camp, injured forwards Nolan Patrick and Blake Speers are not yet 100 percent, according to Hockey Canada’s head scout Ryan Jankowski.

The Saskatoon Blades head coach Dean Brockman wants the undivided attention of his players – so much so, that he’s implemented a ban on using cellphones at the rink.

“When there’s distraction and you’re not mentally focused towards one thing, we just thought it was a course of action that we’d try for a short-term period and see if it helped our play or helped our focus on the ice and in the dressing room,” Brockman told the CBC.

Players had been putting their phones in a bag some 90 minutes before game time, but now they’re handing over their phones to the coaches before practices and games.

From CBC:

[Brockman] said the players had responded well to the change, although there was some disappointment.

“At first there you could see that maybe some of the faces were a little bit longer,” said Brockman. “But we haven’t had any issues with it or anybody argue that it’s not a good thing.”

Hockey Canada announced on Monday what had been rumoured for months: The Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament would be leaving Europe for Edmonton in 2018.

The summer tournament features the best under-18 players in the world. The tournament will now come to Canada every two years, adding additional dates in 2020 and 2022.

The under-18 tournament has been held since 1991, and was named in honour of the late Czech player and NHL coach Ivan Hlinka after he died in a car accident in 2004.

“The Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup is a significant event on our calendar for many reasons, the first of which is that it honours a great player and coach who was taken from us far too soon,” said Hockey Canada president Tom Renney at a press conference in Edmonton. “The event itself is uniquely positioned on the calendar to truly allow for all of the participating nations – and for the hundreds

The Peterborough Petes are in dire financial trouble according to the team’s president.

In a Peterborough Examiner story published on Thursday, Dave Pogue outlined the Petes’ monetary problems telling city council that the team would be broke within four years if the city did not help improve the terms of their current lease at the Memorial Centre.

A minor hockey coach in Laval, Que., is out of a job today after forcing his Laval-North Cobra Atom AA team – made up of 9-and-10-year-olds – to run outside the arena in their equipment for 20 minutes.

According to the front page story by Gabriel Beland of La Presse, the parents of the children were in the arena and unaware of what the coach was doing. It was only after the children returned to the rink that they found out what had happened and contacted both La Presse and the Minor Hockey Association of Laval-North.

Representatives of the minor hockey association met with the coach on Tuesday and both sides decided it was best for the coach to leave.

“Following a meeting with the coach, he admitted the facts on this case,” Hockey Laval-North vice-president Benoit Puskas told La Presse. “There was a common agreement that the AA atom coach needed to resign. Hockey Laval-North does not adhere to this type of behaviour and isn’t consistent with our values.”

The Memorial Cup is given to the champion of the Canadian Hockey League. Photo by Aaron Bell/CHL Images

Amid tepid interest in the open bidding to host the 100th Memorial Cup, the Canadian Hockey League has narrowed the field to Regina (WHL), Hamilton (OHL) and Oshawa (OHL).

Under normal circumstances the 2018 centennial would have been the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s turn to host the event, but given the milestone, the CHL decided to open the bid process across the country. According to a CHL source the interest in hosting the marquee event was less than enthusiastic. That seems in line with a report from Durhamregion.com which suggests only the three finalists were serious about bids.

It had been rumoured that only those three teams expressed an interest, surprising given the prestige involved in the centennial anniversary of the championship.

“It was a little bit shocking, but we’ll take it because I think it improves our odds dramatically,” Generals owner Rocco Tullio

Cape Breton Screaming Eagles defenceman Adam McCormick is playing hockey with a heavy heart. Skating with the QMJHL team has provided the 16-year-old with a little refuge from what he and his family are facing at home.

His mom, Audrey, is awaiting a lung transplant. She’s been fighting lung disease for more than seven years, and it was a big decision for McCormick to leave home. He wasn’t sure if going away to play major junior hockey was a good idea given the circumstances.

Sydney, NS, where the Screaming Eagles play, is a seven-hour drive from his western New Brunswick roots.

McCormick played last season with the Fredericton Canadians major midget team, about an hour away from his Woodstock, NB, home. He’s also an eleventh round pick of the hometown Woodstock Slammers in the Maritime Hockey League, a local junior A circuit under the CJHL umbrella.

On an individual basis, Regina Pats centre Adam Brooks has nothing left to prove in the Western Hockey League. He led the league in scoring last year with 38 goals and 120 points in 72 games in his 19-year-old season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs prospect believes the objective of his last WHL season is to add an Ed Chynoweth Cup next to his Bob Clarke Trophy. He’s preparing to help the 14-0-3-0 Queen City Kids win their first WHL championship since 1980.

“That’s (win a championship) what I want to do in my last season,” says Brooks, who was named the WHL Player of the Week from Nov. 6-13. “Right now in my fifth year, this is the best team of the five I’ve played on. This team has a chance to win this year and that’s what we are all working towards.”

On top of elite skill and unmatched depth, Brooks believes Regina’s greatest strength is how they have come together as a team.

Team Canada celebrates winning gold at the 2015 world junior championship in Toronto.

Canada has always been seen as the promised land for the world junior championship. Thanks to wall-to-wall television coverage and a schedule that provides an attentive audience over the Christmas holidays, the tournament has taken on a life of its own in this country.

There is big money to be made and everyone, including the International Ice Hockey Federation knows it. It’s why Canada hosts the tournament as often as it does now. Even with a poor turnout at the Montreal portion of the 2015 tournament – blamed on high ticket prices for the market – Hockey Canada still turned a profit.

“I really like the idea that we go every second year to Canada,” said IIHF president Rene Fasel at a Q & A session with reporters on Tuesday. “I think the expectations were so big for Toronto and Montreal and I was part of the decision to make this back-to-back (in 2015 and 2017). I think we made a mistake. The

Jets prospect Jansen Harkins has 16 points in 13 games this year in the WHL. (Larry MacDougal, The Canadian Press)

From the world junior championship to a WHL playoff run, Prince George Cougars centre Jansen Harkins has no shortage of prestigious opportunities ahead of him this season.

The Winnipeg Jets second-round pick hopes to use a couple of strong showings in the 2016 CIBC Canada Russia Series to find favour from Hockey Canada’s world junior brass. He suits up in his first Canada-Russia game tonight in Prince George.

“Every time I’ve played for Hockey Canada it has been a great experience,” says Harkins. “It is always a lot of fun and an honour to play in games like this. I am looking forward to the series and see it as a good opportunity. The world junior tournament is a big event and growing up watching it you always dream of playing in it.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Harkins would be an option for Team Canada as either a top-six forward or a shutdown specialist. He has solidified himself as a sound two-way forward who has the skill to produce offensively at the major junior level.

Prince Albert's Ian Scott is regarded as one of the top goalies of the 2017 NHL draft (Lucas Chudleigh)

As the ninth overall selection of the 2014 WHL bantam draft, Prince Albert Raiders goaltender Ian Scott entered his major junior career with high expectations. He was the highest netminder taken in the draft since the Tri-City Americans chose Carey Price seventh overall in 2002.

“The draft was a normal day for me,” says Scott. “I went to school, but I did watch it in class. I thought it was cool to go that high in the draft. I tried not thinking about being drafted as high as other goalies. I just was honoured to be picked by Prince Albert.”

The 6-foot-4, 169-pound Scott has lived up to the hype thus far in his WHL career. He’s asserted himself as one of the league’s top young goaltenders this season, posting a .921 save percentage and a 2.88 average throughout his first 10 contests.

“A lot of it has to do with making sure I’m ready every game,” says Scott, who is regarded as a B-list prospect (second or third round) by NHL Central Scouting Service in the 2017 NHL draft. “I prepare

Former Windsor Spitfires forward Ben Johnson was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday.

Johnson, 22, was convicted in early September of raping a then 16-year-old “near comatose” girl in the washroom of Windsor nightclub in 2013. The assault occurred when he was 18 and still playing for the Ontario Hockey League team.

In addition to the prison time the former New Jersey Devils prospect will also have to be registered as a sex offender for the next 20 years and provide a blood sample for a DNA database. He is also prohibited from owning weapons for 10 years.

The maximum sentence for sexual assault is 10 years. The crown had been asking for a jail sentence of between three-and-a-half to four years for the native of Calumet, Michigan.

NHL draft prospect Nick Henry is off to a hot start with the Regina Pats. (Keith Hershmiller)

Nick Henry appeared to be college bound after making a verbal commitment to Western Michigan University last May. Those plans began to change when the Regina Pats acquired his WHL rights from the Everett Silvertips at the 2016 bantam draft. He went on to forego a NCAA scholarship and sign with the Queen City Kids in early September.

The 6-foot, 190-pounder winger points to his development as the main reason for his major hockey decision. He believes going straight to the WHL was a better option than playing in the MJHL (Manitoba Junior A) and USHL before joining Western Michigan in 2018-19.

“It came down to the time frame,” says Henry. “If I went to Western Michigan, I would have had to play another year in Portage (Terriers) and then a year in the USHL. I felt it made more sense for my development to come here. I have nothing against (coach) Andy Murray’s program and would have loved to play for him, but it just made sense for me to go this route.”

Moncton Wildcats defenceman Zachary Malatesta was suspended seven games by the QMJHL on Tuesday for his check on Victoriaville Tigres star Pascal Laberge. The hit left Laberge, a Philadelphia Flyers prospect, with a concussion.

The hit occurred at the 6:05 mark of the first period during the Wildcats’ 5-2 loss to the Tigres on Saturday. A James Povall rebound from a shot from the right circle wrapped its way up the boards to the left point of the Victoriaville zone. Laberge picked up the puck and turned to skate out of the zone with speed. Malatesta got low and met him at the left point, countering the oncoming forward’s speed with his own, crunching him head on and sending the Tigres star to the ice, as Laberge’s stick flew up in the air on impact. Tigres forward James Phelan jumped immediately into the fray to avenge his fallen teammate, fighting the Wildcat blueliner. The call on the ice was a major penalty for checking to the head and a game misconduct. Was it warranted? Have a

While that’s great news for Marner – and perhaps not surprising considering his historic 2015-16 season with the London Knights – it’s much less so for Hockey Canada as it pertains to the World Junior Championship. And the news gets much worse when the totality of the situation is taken under consideration.

Marner, 19, is one of 13 players with CHL eligibility to crack opening NHL rosters (excluding Connor McDavid, who for some reason isn’t still playing for the Erie Otters). Nine of the 13 are Canadians.

A fan climbs the glass at an OHL game between the Guelph Storm and host Mississauga Steelheads on Oct. 12, 2016.

Not many showed up at the Hershey Centre on Wednesday night, but all it took was one crazed fan to make enough of a scene for everyone. That one, potentially over-served man, brought it upon himself to liven up the tepid atmosphere in the announced crowd of 1,711. However, he did it in one stupid, dangerous way. In the middle of a 11-3 rout by the home Mississauga Steelheads over the visiting Guelph Storm in OHL action, a fan decided to halt play after he climbed the glass and made his way onto the ice.

The attention-seeker slung himself over the glass in the Mississauga zone to the right of goaltender Matthew Mancina at 13:48 of the second period with the Steelheads up 7-2. He then ran five paces before tumbling onto his back. He managed to gather himself and raise his hands in jubilation – for what, we don’t know – and apparently paraded his

The Ontario Hockey League is looking into an incident involving Ottawa 67’s and head coach/general manager Jeff Brown. Multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that Brown grabbed one of his own players on the bench during a game in Sarnia on Sept. 30. One source described Brown’s actions as a “horse-collar” – grabbing the player by the back of the jersey – and pulling him downward.

OHL commissioner David Branch said the league received “some comments which we found concerning” about the incident and were conducting interviews.

“We have a duty and commitment to our players and their player experience and we take that very seriously,” said Branch on Tuesday afternoon. “So we are in the process of talking to some of our players and others in Ottawa.”

Yahoo Sports’ Buzzing the Net blog will preview the upcoming 2016-17 QMJHL season, going division by division and asking the biggest question of each team. The season opens on Thursday with the defending President’s Cup champion Rouyn-Noranda Huskies hosting the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, then a full slate of games Friday with all 18 teams in action.

ROUYN-NORANDA HUSKIES

2015-16 record: 54-9-3-2 (113 points)

Division finish: First place

League finish: First place

Result: Won President’s Cup

Can the Huskies win it all again?

Their blueline could be the deepest in the league, and while Chase Marchand isn’t back to set playoff records, they should be poised to be a contender again.

Marchand was a Jr. A goalie in the Maritime Hockey League two seasons ago. He became a star goaltender for the Huskies behind coach Gilles Bouchard and his system, and while Marchand was a very solid contributor and got hot at the right time, Samuel Harvey was the starter of this Huskies team two seasons